I want to tell two different stories, about two different people -- Their names were Isaiah and Zechariah. But although these men were different they shared some important things in common -- and they both learned some very important lessons about worship.

Listen very carefully, because when I am finished with the stories, I will be asking you some questions:

Adults, you can follow along in Isaiah ch. 6 and Luke ch. 1, on p. . Warning -- I am using Daniel's highly amplified children's version.

Isaiah was going to the temple. It was not an exciting experience. He went there every day, and every day was pretty much the same. He didn't expect anything much new. The temple had not changed much for hundreds of years. And the priests were not exactly into innovative worship. He couldn't even hope the folding chairs would be arranged differently. He was expecting to have a nice quiet -- but not very exciting -- time of worship.

Actually his thoughts probably weren't much on worship at all -- I would guess his mind was filled with all sorts of worries. Not very different from you parents -- do you know when they come to worship their heads are filled with all kinds of worries. They're worried about job things, and family things and whether they'll get to see the football game.

Isaiah didn't worry about the same things, but he had plenty to worry about. The King had just died. And when a king dies there is lots to worry about, because you can't be quite sure what the new king will be like, or how long he will last. There were rumors of war. He hadn't listened to NPR that morning-- but he knew there were problems in Iraq again -- The Assyrian army was rumored to be on the move. There were alot more important things to worry about than worship.

He had been at the temple a while when suddenly something was different. Things didn't look the same. There was Smoke everywhere.

Then he heard the noise. The floors started shaking. The doors were rattling. Could it be the Music team practicing for a contemporary service? No that was 27 centuries too early.

He looked up and his eyes were blinded -- he saw a huge throne, and from the throne flowed a great robe -- so large that it filled the temple court. And around the throne and above it were the most magnificent and most frightening creatures he had ever seen -- each of them had six wings -- and they were calling out in Loud voices -- so loud that the floor shook:

Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty,
The whole earth is full of his Glory.

And when he looked at the throne he saw -- not a person, not an angel -- but a vision of God himself --

He cried out woe is me! I am ruined. I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty. [what do you think it means to have unclean lips]

Then one of the magnificent winged creatures flew down, picked up a coal from the altar and held it up to Isaiah's lips and said:

See, this has touched your lips; you don't have to feel guilty anymore; Your sin has been paid for.

Then Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"

And Isaiah said, "I'm here. Send me!"

And God did -- from that day on, Isaiah became a special messenger of God. In fact, God gave him the privilege of telling people about Jesus hundreds of years before Jesus was born.

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Now let's skip forward 735 years. Different time. Different man. But Same place.

Zechariah was also going to the temple. He was also not expecting much to be different. It was a new temple building, but they still didn't have folding chairs or overhead projectors -- can you believe it -- so Zechariah had no reason to expect anything new.

Zechariah was a priest and it was his turn to keep the incense burning in the temple. Do you know what incense is? Smells nice, but nothing to get excited about. It was not an exciting job, but someone had to do it.

So Zechariah had no more reason than Isaiah to expect anything out of the ordinary. Everything was routine. He knew exactly what to do and how to do it.

Like Isaiah, I imagine his mind was probably on other things -- his sick cow, the troublesome leak in the roof; Elizabeth, his wife.

Ah, Elizabeth. how he loved her. But he couldn't think about her without feeling a deep ache inside. Elizabeth was almost always sad these days. [Do you know why?]

Zechariah and Elizabeth had no children. They longed so deeply to have a baby to hold the way I held Thomas this morning. But now they were getting old and they knew it would never happen -- they would never watch a toddler begin to walk; they would never hear their child's first words.

Whenever Zechariah thought about it, he felt like there was a big empty hole right inside him.

So Zechariah came into the temple that morning with lots of things on his mind.

But he had no reason to expect anything special to happen. He absentmindedly went about his business -- preparing himself, preparing th incense -- Then he went into the inner part of the temple, and stood in front of the altar of incense. Everything was normal -- until he looked up to the right side of the altar.

And there was an angel.

Poor Zechariah was terrified.
[why do you think he was so scared? would you be scared if you saw an angel?]

Now you probably don't think of angels as frightening -- but that just shows that you've never seen a real one. You know how I know that angels are scary? Because the first thing they ever say to anyone is, "Don't be afraid."
And that is exactly what this angel said to Zechariah.

[Angel's message]

Now if an angel came and promised you something you had been longing for all your life -- the most wonderful promise you had ever heard, what would you say?

Not Zechariah -- he wasn't going to be taken in so easily

want to know what he said:
[pull down glasses.] Well, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but I'm not exactly young anymore, and (while I love her dearly) Elizabeth is no spring chicken either.

Bad move, Zechariah.

So the angel said, "You want a sign -- I'll give you a sign. Because you didn't believe in me, you won't be able to speak until the baby is born."

And that's what happened. When Zechariah came out of the Holy Place in the temple, he couldn't speak --

But God always keeps his promises, and a bit less than a year later, Elizabeth had a son. They named him John, and after they named him, Zechariah's voice came back and the first thing he did was to worship and praise God.

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1. Do you think Isaiah and Zechariah thought worship was boring? When they got home and their wives said, so how was temple worship today, do you think they said, "Oh, nothing special -- same old stuff"

Do you ever think worship is boring?

So what's the difference?

Teaching point: Worship will never be boring if we really meet with God.


2. How did Isaiah feel after he saw the vision of God? And how did Zechariah feel after he saw the angel? Were they happy and excited. Did they get all pumped up?

Teaching point: Worship is not necessarily a feel good experience. If we come just wanting to feel good about ourselves, we are not expecting to meet God.


3. A Question about Zechariah: Why couldn't he talk after he saw the angel? Why did God take away his voice?

Teaching point: Doubt destroys worship.

4. After their visions in the temple, were things the same for Isaiah and Zechariah -- did they on with life just the same as they always had?
How did the experience change their lives?

Teaching point: True worship is transforming. We cannot meet God and come away unchanged.



Summary for adults.

We often think of worship in very narrow terms -- we think of music, of prayer, of sermons. But these are just externals -- aids to the real object of worship. The real object is to meet God -- to experience God Himself.

If you come and really meet God in worship

-- you will not come away bored. Even if the externals of the service are boring. God certainly is not

-- you will not come to worship just for a feel Good experience.

-- you will not leave worship unchanged.

Isaiah and Zechariah had the great privilege of seeing visions with their physical eyes. We must recognize the presence of God through the eyes of our hearts -- through the eyes of faith. But His presence is no less real here right now than it was for Isaiah.

[prayer]